Damien Deroubaix

About

HdM GALLERY is honoured to present a show by French contemporary artist Damien Deroubaix on 22 June. This is the artist's first solo exhibition in HdM GALLERY, and it is also the first physical exhibition in HdM GALLERY London Space after the epidemic. The gallery is open by appointment only from Monday to Friday from 9-6pm.

Background, Use of Techniques and Interests

Having multiple influences from France to Germany, Deroubaix studied at the Fine Art University in Saint-Etienne (1992 to 1994) and the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe (1994 and 1998). He uses a variety of techniques from drawing, painting, sculpture, installation to lithography. In recent years, Deroubaix mainly works with paper cut-outs, wood engraving prints and oil on canvas.

As an artist, he is interested in revealing the violence that is hidden in our social power, investigating the incarnations of Capitalism such as advertising, models, slogans - and he thinks that vanity and death are lurking behind these incarnations.

References and Influences

Deroubaix uses a lot of references symbolically in his works: popular culture elements, biblical citations, Grindcore Culture imagery. He uses these to express his cynicism towards the materialism and conformity of the masses. Besides, historical references such as Nazi symbols and death camps represent the ultimate evil, whilst references to the Dada Movement, Francis Bacon, and especially to Pablo Picasso and the meaning and iconography of his work Guernica (1937), which shaped the artist's conception of art - all together are a nod to art history.

Key Themes

The artist's recent works depict monstrous twilight landscapes with human, animals and plants in bizarre compositions. Like Robert Rauschenberg, Deroubaix also experiments with collage - mixing modern and identifiable iconography with a morbid and apocalyptic universe populated by monsters, skeletons, weapons of war and an abundance of images symbolizing disaster and death. His motifs come from the medieval danses marcabres with tragic from Modern history. Altogether, Deroubaix portrays a dark, chaotic and violent universe on the border of reality and nightmare based on mythology lodged in the heart of Surrealism.

If you would like to visit the gallery, you can book an appointment by emailing m@hdmgallery.com or calling +44 7495 08 1819.